William Shakespeare is working on a new comedy in London in 1598 but is experiencing writer's block. Viola de Lesseps, who enjoys Shakespeare's plays, disguises herself as a man named Thomas Kent to audition for a role. She and Shakespeare fall in love, which inspires his playwriting but complicates their relationship due to the time period's norms. The film is a romantic comedy that explores the themes of love and gender roles in Elizabethan England through the lens of Shakespeare finding his muse in Viola.